Among members of the community, business leaders and non-profit representatives assembled on Thursday, Dec. 8 for a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Whittaker, a luxury apartment on 4755 Fauntleroy Way SW, was one especially special guest.

Mountaineer Jim Whittaker, 87, was the first American to summit Mount Everest – and erected a U.S. flag on the top. He was also the first full-time employee of REI – and held the title of CEO for the company throughout the 1960s. He’s from West Seattle, a graduate of West Seattle High School -- and the namesake of the luxury apartment complex.

Whittaker climbed up a few steps in the main entry of the south building to address the crowd.

“This is home,” he said. “I used to walk from Fauntleroy to Arbor Heights for lunch. I’m sure that’s where I began to develop my lung capacity.”

Whittaker said the apartments were built to fill a need for the area – with so many new people moving in and searching for residences.

The project set to be built in the former Alki Tavern location at 1307 Harbor Ave SW is moving ahead with the filing of the Land Use Application for the 6-story structure that will include an office, a café, a design lab, a restaurant, an underground parking lot, retail stores and 15 apartment units. Parking for 27 vehicles would be inside the building. The community amenities in the structure reflect the architects’ priority to design a building that will engage local residents.

From the City of Seattle Analysis and Decision:

The packet includes materials presented at the meeting, and is available online by entering the project number (3015628) at this website:

Israel Shotridge, Sue Shotridge and Autumn Shotridge at Raven's Nest West Gallery in West Seattle. The company sells Northwest coast native art in a variety of formats, much of it produced by the family.